Running Information Forums - Sub-40 schedule (re-purposed somewhat)

hi

47 year old male and re-discovered running in June 2012 after about a 15 year break.

i've built up my mileage without injury:

Code:
Jun: 40k

Jul: 90k

Aug: 120k

Sep: 180k

Oct: 250k

i regard all the above miles as base training and there was no structure to it at all - just running according to my mood. that's fine, but i'm a one speed wonder. there were zero intervals in those miles, and no speed or pace work. i am not in a club.

i run fell races (large-ish hills, off road) but the guys at work laugh at my 8 minute miles (5'/k) so I did a flat multi-terrain 10k at the beginning of October and clocked 45:16.

i'm aiming for a fell race on 31 Dec and worked out that i could squeeze in 3 cycles of the 10k schedule and that i might be able to crank the speed up a bit in the 9 weeks of Nov/Dec.

so i'm on the sub-40 schedule (just started week 3 of cycle 1) hoping that the base above is solid enough.

i'll tell you now - it hurts. i may have bitten off too much too early, but i'm going to persevere - hopefully with some guidance.

it's very hard to find a flat route near me. my 5 x 2k R 90" is done off road on a 1k+ stretch of moorland track. it's almost always windy and i have to turn and head back into the wind. the ground is also soft and uneven so i might not repeat at that site.

Code:
moorland track splits for 5 x 2k R 90" were: 9:00, 9:42, 9:59, 9:53, 9:56 

tarmac splits for 6 x 1k R 60" were: 4:05, 4:05, 4:12, 4:12, 4:17, 4:15

my tarmac 'not a race paced 5k' was 21:32 (4:08, 4:25, 4:21, 4:26, 4:11)

my races are typically 40 - 70 minutes off road and hilly but i'm enjoying this schedule so far.

i'm a way off the target times for sub-40, but hey it's a training schedule and i ain't had one of them before Smile

i'll let you know how i progress.

train safe.

my profile has a link to a google doc spreadsheet with my current progress. even though it's a spreadsheet, as it's a google doc it should be visible in your browser. i couldn't link to it from my post as my post count is too low.

distances are in km, times H:M:S

ignore the strange letter sequences - they're my route names (from lines in the film Pulp Fiction) well, it amuses me Smile

Hi sheepshearer and welcome to the forums and thank you for the thorough info

it looks as though you have built consistency by simply running

judging from your 6 x 1k pace on the tarmac, you may have bitten off a large chunk by going straight towards the sub 40

so if you able to do your 2k session in 4.25 per k to start and your 1k 10 seconds faster @ 4.15 that would look good for the first cycle

don't be a rush when introducing the speedwork for the first time, as the consequences can be painful

are you able in the future to get Day 3 onto a Thursday .. as the most important balance are those 5 days .. Day 3 to Day 8 (including day 8)

for the 2nd cycle we can look to go 5 seconds faster and the balance of the training should bring results

what is currently your longest run if your races are up to 70 minutes?

over to you

TheEd
ps.. have looked at spreadsheet, hopefully we can change to a Thursday for Day 3 in the next cycle .. if a race is on a Sunday then we simply change the last 3 days training before the event